Next time you’re in Seattle, you have to check out the new Stumptown retail location on 12th near Seattle University (1115 12th Ave). This is the first retail location for this roaster, outside of Portland OR, where the company is well-placed as one of the leaders in the Third Wave coffee movement. Stumptown has built a reputation for expert, perfect-pitch sourcing of green coffee, as well as a true, hands-on policy of social responsibility and awareness in origin countries. Stumptown is utterly real in this, totally authentic. Anyway, Jason Prefontaine and I made our way to the store to have a coffee, while sort of hoping to run into Duane, Stumptown’s founder.

It turned out that Duane wasn’t around because he was busily working on his second new location west of Broadway (616 East Pine St). This will be Stumptown’s second retail opening within two weeks! However, our visit was well worth it anyway.

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September Poll Results

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Tom Knudson, published an important story recently in the Sacramento Bee called “Promises and Poverty”. This story highlights the inconsistency between the claims made by coffee companies operating in the coffee growing regions of Ethiopia and what is in fact really going on there. The story focuses on Starbucks’ social mission, but the discoveries and lessons probably apply to almost everyone purchasing green coffee in poor countries.

For some people, “Promises and Poverty” could serve as an “I told you so” about Big Green, and perhaps even feed cynicism around corporations like this. However, the story also speaks to an issue that goes far beyond the intentions of any single company, even one as big and influential as Starbucks. This reading of the story highlights the difficulty large organizations seem to have deploying aid resources effectively. In some cases, their efforts to improve economic conditions can actually lead to serious environmental damage and real cultural harm. “Promises and Poverty” should raise red flags and lead to discussion around whether aid programs are best adminstered by large corporations, governments, or NGO’s. . . or if there is a better way.

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Within the walls and halls of specific cafes around Seattle, around the country, and even Canada, something verging on a Revolution in mind and action is occurring. This revolution is based on paying attention to the finer details of coffee preparation, but it also includes pouring time, energy and resources into developing awareness and formulating action around social and cultural issues–issues that we might ordinarily think go beyond the role of the traditional coffee house. Developments in this direction are happening with remarkable intensity, and cafes focused on this are beginning to show up everywhere, while some old favorites are transcending their previous practices to emerge anew. Its not just those of us who love great coffee who stand to benefit either. It is the whole world. The coffee individualists who carry the banner for this new movement are usually well-informed. In addition to cafe operators, their number includes baristas, equipment developers, and commentators. The most active of these are totally engaged. They are pushing the boundaries at all levels, including the standard ones around coffee preparation, equipment and new culinary experiences around coffee. But there is even more to it than this. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always been curious to see how a shot pulls from a lever machine using a naked portafilter - so, we rebuilt an old Simonelli ISX lever and drilled out the portafilter. Here’s the vid:

What we noticed is that there is an odd & disturbing cone of foam that forms at the end of the shot Read the rest of this entry »

I am sure by now most of us have heard of the Panama Esmeralda that Caffe Artigiano was selling for $15 per cup. This post isn’t discussing the taste of the coffee, but rather the marketing of this coffee and what I noticed at Artigiano.

I have been to the Hornby location many times to study Artigiano and what goes on there. On occasion I would order a CoE coffee on the Clover and would choose my coffee off a faxed menu that came from…?…somewhere. The coffee was fine - but to be honest, I have never noticed another person other than myself order a CoE while I happened to be at the cafe. Also, if you’ve never been to this location - the Clover is hidden behind a wooden box with a mirror in front of it (?). So, great coffee, reading a description off a faxed menu, made on a Clover, hidden behind a box = 1 cup of CoE sold during the 15 - 20 minutes I’m in the cafe.

Next - I was in Vancouver in August and decided to drop by the Hornby location again to try out the Panama Esmeralda. Read the rest of this entry »

Why have this blog, you ask? The purpose of Slayer is to share information, stories, and developments from the world of professional espresso. We want to explore it all–the coffee, the Culture, the people, the equipment, technique, and philosophy, the things that define the world of espresso when it is taken to a professional level. We want to hear from those in the specialty coffee industry who may at this very moment stand at the top of their game with tremendous depth of experience and expertise. You may already have a creed firmly in place around your Art based on years of exploration and practice. We want to know how this is working for you–so we can learn from it.

Slayer is also for everyone who just wonders if there is a better way. What comes after perfection? What lies on the other side of Caffe Artigiano, David Schomer, PID, FB80, Fair Trade, Cup of Excellence, and all the dreams of an organic, authentic, Coffee Universe now circulating and seemingly just beyond our grasp? Whether we call ourselves this or not, the players in this industry are really coffee argonauts, students, on a journey of discovery and personal improvement around this one special thing– professional espresso–which remarkably offers us a context to improve not just the coffee, but possibly the World.

Everyone, welcome aboard!